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March 2014 Moms
lindsey1031
member
Baby Led Weaning
lindsey1031
member
Hi guys! I've been around, but not responding/posting much. I wanted to know what you all know about Baby Led Weaning. What do you think about it? Are you going to do it? Why or Why not?
For anyone who doesn't know, BLW is letting baby feed himself using appropriately sized solids instead of purees. The idea is that it is more natural because baby has control of what is introduced and how much he eats of it. Also, he learns to feed himself at his own pace and is introduced to food in it's purest state (i.e. knows what broccoli is when he sees a pic of it, instead of learning about it through that green mush in that bowl).
I like the idea, but am not sold on it. As someone who worked in child care with infants for many years, I feel it's equally important that they learn to eat from a spoon along with learning to feed themselves. I've been offering my almost 5 month old a sippy cup with a few ounces of water (which he might get lucky and get one or two sips of) during our dinner time. He loves it, but is still extremely interested in our food and whatever we are eating. Sometimes, he refuses to sit in his chair while we eat, but when in our laps, he is grabbing at our food and complaining when he doesn't get it! I'm not sure I can wait until 6 months to let him explore food, but I'm also not sure of how I will introduce it to him. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Linky:
https://www.rapleyweaning.com/assets/blw_guidelines.pdf
For anyone who doesn't know, BLW is letting baby feed himself using appropriately sized solids instead of purees. The idea is that it is more natural because baby has control of what is introduced and how much he eats of it. Also, he learns to feed himself at his own pace and is introduced to food in it's purest state (i.e. knows what broccoli is when he sees a pic of it, instead of learning about it through that green mush in that bowl).
I like the idea, but am not sold on it. As someone who worked in child care with infants for many years, I feel it's equally important that they learn to eat from a spoon along with learning to feed themselves. I've been offering my almost 5 month old a sippy cup with a few ounces of water (which he might get lucky and get one or two sips of) during our dinner time. He loves it, but is still extremely interested in our food and whatever we are eating. Sometimes, he refuses to sit in his chair while we eat, but when in our laps, he is grabbing at our food and complaining when he doesn't get it! I'm not sure I can wait until 6 months to let him explore food, but I'm also not sure of how I will introduce it to him. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Linky:
https://www.rapleyweaning.com/assets/blw_guidelines.pdf
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Baby Led Weaning
He can feed himself well enough with a spoon as long as the food is thick enough (like yogurt).
I will be starting BLW with LO in about a month. He doesn't seem quite as interested in food yet as DS1 did at the same age, but I think if food was offered he would explore it.
@dannie2011 - I meant learn to use a spoon through self feeding rather than being spoon fed. Did you give your kids yogurt or other things better eaten with a spoon? How did you initially introduce foods like spinach, yogurt, or other things that are not easy to hold and gnaw on?
Re: yogurt
For me personally, we spoon fed yogurt at around 8 or 9 months. That's the only thing fed by spoon. At around 14 months we gave him the spoon to try himself. It was a bit messy, but we added a dry cereal like Special K or Rice Krispies to thicken it and add crunch. He loves to feed himself his yogurt.
I've read of other parents who just put a dollop on the baby's tray/plate and let the kid smear his/her hand in and lick it off. I didn't want to deal with the mess that would happen if he used his hand to 'splat' so we used the spoon.
Proud Cloth Diapering, Babywearing Mommy to Desmond (5.30.2011) and Evangeline (2.26.2014)
Loving wife, best friend and teammate to Babywearing Daddy, Kelly (7.27.2000)
Volunteer Babywearing Educator at Babywearing International of South Central Pennsylvania